If you don't eat carbs - what do you eat?

[Seriously79]

Just as the tile says, I'm thinking of cutting/ reducing my carb intake, but what would I have instead?

Or have I missed something - don't you replace the carbs? 🤔

Cauliflower rice would be an option.

@Seriously79 If you are reducing carb intake there would be no replacement. You would need to make sure you are getting enough protein and healthy fats from avacado, cheese, butter, and healthy oils.

I've not made much use of this site yet but
https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/meal-planners/
might be useful. I'm trying to eat more beans (eg crushed butter beans mixed with spinach as a base under a piece of fish) and decrease the amount eg of pasta or potatoes.

@Seriously79

on the 'Bootcamp' threads there are LOADS of ideas.

I'm vegetarian & don't eat eggs, so mine is even further restricted. You can (presumably add meat, fish , eggs to any of my meals.

I don't usually eat breakfast, but if I do it's leftovers or Greek yogurt (Fage) you can add berries & almond flakes.

I don't usually eat lunch either (no hardship if I'm low carbing)

dinner:

vegetables with a cheese sauce (fresh cream, grated cheese & I like black pepper & mustard powder)

vegetables roast in oven or now the air fryer.

cauliflower steaks

celeriac mash

salad (avoiding Carby things).

...and this is all why I fall off the wagon too often. Especially for someone who hates cooking, there's not a lot of variety.

but if you eat meat/fish/eggs it's a fabulous way to eat.

Low carbing only really 'works' if you do it properly. You don't really achieve much by just cutting down as you'll still be eating too many carbs to switch to fat burning.

jason Fung books, podcasts are good.

definitely the Bootcamps run by BIWI.

I'm low carb in general- lifestyle rather than for a diet. I go for volume eating of salad/veg instead of any carbs. Mainly because I'm more keen on eating nutrient dense food.
I've just had tinned tuna for lunch with a whole pepper, half a pack of Mangetout peas, about a quarter of a pack of fancy Aldi small tomatoes, some mixed leaves, a few olives and half an avocado.
Tonight I'll have lamb chops with a pile of green veg - broccoli, green beans, possibly some peas or broad beans. It'll certainly be half a plate of veg and probably 3 lamb chops.
Breakfast was Greek yogurt and some raspberries.

I usually replace potatoes with roast broccoli or fried in butter, I don't replace pasta or rice but I do have veg to go with my meals.

You just eat more of the yummy stuff. So I would have a bowl of chili, or a plate of roast veg with feta or halloumi or chorizo. Or a big salad with chicken. Or a nice steak / gammon / chicken breast with veg. Cheese omelettes are great with veg or salad. DH has taken to making soups. Often I'll have a fry up of bacon and eggs with mushrooms. Garlic mushrooms are lovely added to many meals.

My concession to cutting carbs is having some meals without starchy carbs or just having a smaller portion of the carb element and more green veg. I would certainly not swap potatoes for broccoli but have both.

And I love things like gammon, bacon and ham but eat them really sparingly as processed meat is not exactly the healhiest choice.

I mostly eat chicken, fish, beans, tofu and pulses as my protein elements in a meal and pulses and beans also have carbs. When I eat carbs I try to have the whole versions - skin on potatoes for fibre, wholewheat pasta, brown rice.

For a while I was pescetarian but chicken is just too convenient and filling to miss.

Cauliflower mash, cauliflower rice, celeriac chips, courgette noodles. If your into baking/cooking you can almost always make low carb alternatives like naan, granola, cake etc.

Super easy. South Asian woman here and know full well risk factors of type 2 diabetes. So preventing even pre diabetes is a priority. It’s not religiously low carb (as in I won’t avoid onions or all dairy - just grains and potatoes are out)-

Currently travelling in Scandinavia but this is quite similar to home -

Breakfast: Smoked salmon, avocado and cream cheese. Some kefir because my guts love it.

Lunch: Spicy chicken drumsticks (not breaded), coleslaw

snacks: Berries, grapes, salami, cucumber and aioli, etc

Dinner: Fish or poultry, green veg with garlic and butter and some form of fruit compote (no sugar, but some juice).

Kids and spouse eat the same with bread and potatoes/rice added. So not a different meal needing cooking.

Indeed - it is just the yummy stuff

Usually nothing, which I find I much is easier than trying to replace the carb-like texture with cauliflower rice, egg-white bread or zucchini noodles. Protein, veggies and a good sauce is usually the best combo. It's much easier on digestion and you don't have that sickly, full feeling afterwards.

If you do need carbs, a very reduced portion is much more satisfying then replacements. A few new potatoes or a heaped tablespoon of rice just to soak up the flavours.

Chickpeas and feta cheese are also two things that feel carb-y and seem to balance out meals quite nicely. Corn on the cob as well, although that's high carb by default.

A low carb diet isn't a no carb diet! You get your carbs from veg, salad and some fruit.

It's actually very easy, unless your meals consist totally of pasta or rice plus some kind of sauce.

Here are some examples of the meals we might have:

• roast chicken with roast veg (peppers, courgettes, cauliflower, shallots, garlic)
• salmon or pork fillet, (marinated in garlic, olive or sesame oil, ginger, lemon, soy sauce), served with stir-fried veg - usually cabbage, onion/shallots, baby sweetcorn, peppers, sometimes bean sprouts, sometimes with cauliflower rice, sometimes with konjac noodles (almost zero carbs - look out for the Bare Naked noodle brand)
• cauliflower cheese - cheese sauce made with double cream and lots of mature cheddar, (no flour), served with green salad and a garlicky vinaigrette
• curried prawns with spinach, in a creamy coconut milk sauce, served on a bed of finely shredded, fried cabbage
• aubergine and courgette parmagiana - griddled aubergine and courgettes, layered with a tomato sauce (shallots, olive oil, garlic and a tin of chopped tomatoes), topped with sliced mozzarella and grated parmesan, served with a salad and/or a side of sliced leeks pan-fried with red pepper or chilli

If you go to the Low Carb Bootcamp topic, you'll find several recipe threads with lots of lovely recipes.

When I low carb I replace with Green veg and mushrooms. I don't like fake pasta/bread/rice the konjak root pasta/noodles is revolting and cauliflower rice tastes like cauliflower which I do not like.

Bolognaise with green beans instead of pasta
Boiled egg with asparagus instead of toast soldiers
Bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, loads of the mushrooms instead of toast or hash browns
Full fat Greek yoghurt with berries instead of cereal for breakfast

People still eat carbs on a low carb diet, they just eat smaller amounts of them

So some people say they keep their carbs under 40, or 90g or 120g for example

Fruit and veg has carbs in it. Dairy has carbs in it. Pulses and lentils have carbs in them.

Ryvita instead of bread
Mashed cauli instead of potatoes
Lots of veg instead of the pasta
Bigger portions of protein instead of the rice/pasta/bread/potatoes

Meat, fish, eggs, dairy and a hell of a lot of a vegetables

I can do low carb at home really easily, but some times the convenience of a sandwich when out and about or travelling trips me up!

it's also harder when drinking or hungover!

I just do without starchy carbs.
So I had mozzarella balls, avocado, tomatoes, chickpeas and cucumber for lunch.
Salmon, broccoli and asparagus for tea. DH had potatoes on his plate.
If I have bolognaise sauce I have it without pasta, just with lots of shredded veg in the sauce and cheese on top.
Don’t eat bread and rarely rice.
Yoghurt and fruit for breakfast…..

Not keto low carb, but lowish……

Roast meats, add in extra veg. I like cauliflower cheese to replace potatoes.

Curry, make keto flat breads and avoid rice. I don't eat much cauliflower rice. I also do homemade sagg paneer.

Cooked breakfast, avoid toast hash browns and just have a spoonful of beans. Extra tomato and mushrooms.

Meatballs in sauce I have on courgette julienne instead of pasta

Deep fried chicken with pork scratchings blitzed up for crispy coating and salad

Gyoza stuffing in cabbage leaves braised in tomato sauce.

Roast chicken with salads

Kebab with salads

For a quick go to meal of ice forgotten to eat, which can often happen on low carb, I butterfly a small chicken breast, fry in olive oil, season, then chop chilli onto it and melt mozzarella over it. Serve with wilted spinach.

Tonight we had carb free jelly with berries and double cream.

I do a quiche with almond flour base using eggs and double cream. It's very good.

I have some frozen carbs on standby to add into a meal for others

Once you've got your head around not eating them it's so easy.

I eat a lot of salad with some kind of fish or meat, yogurt and berries.

Really flavoury scrambled eggs are great too, egg is filling but can get boring. I like adding spinach, spring onions and cheese or chorizo, paprika and mushrooms, or spring onions, finely chopped chillies and mexicana cheese.